Lou Ye’s return to sanctioned film-making in China is anything but an artistic or thematic compromise… It’s rare to see an official Chinese movie that takes such a stark look at life today. Set in the rain-drenched city of Wuhan, Lou shows us an urban world of web and text-obsessed people, fast cars, designer fashions and Starbucks that could be any western city.

Yip will be travelling to the US and Europe to scout for 3D technicians and expertise to shoot the film, as well as exploring Asia where 3D production standards are rising. He hopes to start production in December for release at the end of 2013.

The film tells the story of a crocodile on the rampage in Beijing. Barbie Hsu and Guo Tao portray the film’s leading roles while Lin Lisheng, who previously shot “A Disappearing Village”, took the helm as the project’s director.

Recently, it was reported that Liu Xiao Ling Tong would star in a film adaptation of Journey to the West, potentially cooperating with well-know directors James Cameron, Steven Spielberg and others. Liu Xiao Ling Tong has confirmed this on his microblog.

Local films faced tough challenges in a market strewn with Hollywood titles that certainly threaten their survival. “Guns N’ Roses”was the only release that earned a decent return of $9.6million this week, bringing its gross over 14-days in release to $20.07million. The remaining local titles suffered relatively meager box office.

The producers behind the absurd romantic comedy “Let it Be” have released three character posters featuring three lead actors Joan Chen, Van Fan and Song Jinxiao. The film is expected to release during the summer holiday slot.

In other related news, according to a netizen’s tip-off, Gong Li was seen consciously hiding her tummy at the 2nd China-France Film Festival on May 14 and looked visibly tired. The actress, who is dating and living with a French photographer, 13 years her junior, for the past six years, is speculated to be pregnant.

The scandal revolves around wealthy 62-year-old Hong Kong businessman Lau Ding Sing, who is currently on trial for acquiring about 60,000 photos (some of them through intimidation) of a number of men - including a few actors and models - in various states of undress, and allegedly using these photos to blackmail some of these men into submitting to his will.

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April 4, 2012

Promotional materials and a short trailer were recently released for Stephen Fung’s “Tai Chi 0″, first of a planned trilogy. Shu Qi and Daniel Wu, besides those below, were also announced as cast. Sammo Hung will action direct the Huayi Brothers production. The posters were unveiled in Beijing’s World Trade Center subway station, Beijing’s busiest stop.

Rather than offering melodramatic high jinks and endless sequences showcasing Beijing’s hypermodern urban landscape - two things which litter mainland romantic comedies of the past few years - Love in the Buff is comparatively restrained, drawing its humour from the way the two Hongkongers consolidate themselves in Beijing through personal and professional relationships they establish there.

This year’s springtime will see the works of sixth generation Chinese film directors come to life on the nation’s cinema screens. From late April to May, “Design of Death” “Guns N ‘Roses”, “Full Circle” and “An Inaccurate Memoir”, all directed by sixth or seventh generation directors, are to be released in cinemas and examined by audiences and critics alike.

Rumours are circulating through the weibo-sphere that director Zhang Yimou and long-time business partner producer Zhang Weiping are parting ways. The two either had a falling out due to Yimou’s recent marriage “scandal” or differences over money according to the speculation. During the promotions for “The Flowers of War” it was noted that they rarely appeared together and promoted the film separately. Their relationship has spanned over 23 years. (Sina), 2, 3

The ongoing feud between Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen and Chinese martial arts actor Vincent Chiu has escalated recently, with Yen suing Chiu for making false claims about his conduct on the set of Yen’s new action film “Special Identity”.

It turns out Tse feels that there has been a rash of child kidnapping and human trafficking cases in Hong Kong recently, and thought his children would actually be safer with the media tailing them all the time and getting the public interested in how his sons are.

The film was directed by Chinese director Huo Jianqi, the director of “Postmen in the Mountains”, a smash hit in Japan. A China/Japan/Hong Kong/Taiwan co-production, “Snow Fall in Taipei” is a romantic film starring popular Taiwan actor Berlin Chen along with the mainland actress Tong Yao

In a recent newspaper interview, Vincent Zhao claimed that script changes on “Special Identity” lead to an argument between director Clarence Fok and cinematographer Peter Pau. Also, Zhao said that the changes reduced his role to that of a supporting cast member.

Following the high-profile filming of “The Viral Factor” in Kuala Lumpur last year, it seems that more Hong Kong filmmakers are looking to Malaysia for filming locations for their movies and this year, award-winning actors Aaron Kwok and Nick Cheung are that batch of Hong Kong stars, having arrived here recently to shoot Oxide Pang’s detective thriller titled “Conspirator”.

It focuses on the story of several Chinese youths who robbed a bank of the “Manchuguo”, a puppet regime formed in China’s northeastern provinces by Japanese invaders from the 1930s to mid 1940s. The Chinese youths became national heroes, Ning said at a press conference Tuesday in Beijing.

Eva Huang’s latest romance “The Locked Door” released its first trailer. The movie will hit the national screens on March 8th, which is the International Working Women’s Day. Set its background during the Mingguo Period, the movie tells about the life story of a girl from noble family, who was raped at young age.

Stills from Feng Xiaogang’s “1942″ (formerly “Remembering 1942″) on location in Chongqing. The film tells the story of the famine in Henan in the 1940’s where 3 million people died of starvation and 30 million people were transplanted. The cast includes Adrien Brody, Tim Robbins, Chen Daoming, Zhang Hanyu and others.

Zhao Wei has quietly started shooting “Farewell to Our Past Youth” in Nanjing. It was also learned that pop singer Han Geng and actress Yang Zishan as joining the cast with previously announced Mark Chao.

Huayi Brothers’”Love” led a raft of romance flicks by pulling in $13.91 million and caught the second spot in weekly B.O. chart. Directed by Doze Niu, “Love” caught the eye at first because of its all-star cast， including young actors, such as Ethan Ruan, Mark Zhao and Eddie Peng, and veterans, such as Shu Qi and Zhao Wei. Set in Beijing and Taipei, “Love” told the story of three couples whose lives are intertwined, but in the end all characters found their own answers to what love is: namely courage and forgiveness.

Mainland director Sun Zhou presented “I Do”, a comedy that concentrated on the lives of 30’s -40’s single ladies. It is the first commercial movie for the artistic type director. Thanks to Valentines’ Day, the first commercial entry of Sun Zhou got a strong record of $6.31 million over its second week run.

The star believed that seven was his unlucky number and exchanged his tag for his friend’s, which had the number 5654, but maintained he did not swap out his own electronic chip – which records the time taken for the wearer to complete the marathon.

Ning Hao’s big bank robbery caper film has been given an English name, “Guns N’Roses” (previously aka Robbing the Gold/A Big Gold Robbery/Gold Mystery Case). It was revealed in the teaser trailer that was recently released. A summer release is planned.

These female artistes became the talk of the town recently, after it was reported that one female celebrity, with the initials ‘K’ had left her husband and daughter, in order to marry into a rich family.